If you’re surprised by snow in the Middle East, Jerusalem stands roughly 750m (2500ft) above sea level – winters can be very cold.

Maybe someone can tell me more about the image. It was taken at some point in the late 19th or early 20th centuries – but when? I wonder which year saw that much snow in Jerusalem. The website publishing the collection says nothing, though it has many more images of snow piled high in the streets of Jerusalem, presumably taken the same winter. Who’s the photographer?

The bearded man standing guard looks like he’s wearing a greatcoat, tied at the waist, and has a fur hat with a point that looks Central Asian to me. His whole costume seems unusual to me, for a guard at the gates of Al Aqsa, but perhaps it was the Ottoman imperial influence at work. Does anyone know more?

But, regardless, the image takes me off somewhere rare and special. I could look at it all day.

Seems like there’s a bit more height on the image. And more clarity, too. Is the bearded man wearing glasses? Why is he facing into a strong, cold wind that’s blowing snow directly into his face. Why has he got his mouth open? What HAS he got on his head?

I saw that hat in a documentary movie on Hassidic Jews,who migrated to America from the Ukraine after World War II. They seem to wear it at festive occasions like parties. I never saw one on the streets on New York City, where Hassidic Jews pretty much own the diamond trade in the area near times square.